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Ok maybe not so much early morning but a 11am workout. What can I say, it takes a few hours for me to mentally wake up.

And can we just say holy workout from hell?

Kettlebell 20 lbs

*Plie Squats (15 reps, 4 sets)

*Tricep extensions (13 reps, 4 sets)

*Lateral Row (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Shrugs (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

*Chest Press (13 reps, 4 sets)

*Side Bends (25 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell 10 lbs

*Deltoid raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Tricep kickbacks (13 reps, 2 sets)

*Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

In between sets, I would do sets of 30 jumping jacks or crunches which made me super sweaty in no time. It may not look like a lot of stuff but this workout had me reaching for my water. Oddly enough, no matter how tired I get when strength training, I can keep going. Not so much with cardio though, I get too bored after awhile and can’t concentrate.

*

Kicked

My

Butt

I don’t even want to talk about how much pain I’m in today but to say I’m hurting a bit is an understatement. I couldn’t cool down after that even after showering and lounging for awhile but I’m I got that out of the way early on so I could go play!

First stop was Wagging Tails Thrift Store, which benefits the Humane Society.

This place didn’t look like much from the outside but once you step inside, it’s like a huge warehouse full of junk! And I’m talking really, really random junk!

I wanted to buy these and some clear pepsi to go along with it

Other random trinkets included:

I have no clue who the Fercos are but I imagine some kind of Siegfried & Roy knockoff? Aha, turns out they are just like Siegfried & Roy and will have their own show on Animal Planet!

All BSB, all the time!

Oddly enough, one of the Twilight movies is playing in the background as I type this. I am definitely not Team Edward, he is too emo and needs a tan. Team Jacob all the what!

And this place has Playboy dvd’s right in plain view for all to see. Awkward much? Personally I would never buy nudie dvd’s at a thrift store but to each his own. And if it’s raising money for the pups, that can’t be bad right?

After that and the longest trip to Target ever, we went to lunch at a Panera-esque place, Corner Bakery. I have to say, I really like how pretty much every place I’ve been to in DC has the calorie contents in plain view. A girl could definitely get used to that. A girl being me of course but I guess if other girls need it, it’s ok as well.

I ate a light Asian wonton salad since it was humid and hot out plus I wanted to save room for something sweet….cupcakes! My friend and another friend mentioned Lilly Magilly’s and once they did, I knew we had to stop there for a treat.

I love the pink and black décor of Lilly’s plus the beautiful display of cupcakes. Plus, the aroma of cupcakes just make me happy.

We split two cupcakes to get the true Lilly’s experience. I got the chocolate coconut and Neyal got the red velvet cupcake. She says she always orders red velvet wherever she goes to test the place on how they do. Me, I like to get whatever sings to me that day.

Both cupcakes were fantastic but the coconut was definitely my favorite.

I’m still curious who Lilly Magilly is though.

Matilda was there with us! I’m sad that Matilda scared some people out there—she means no harm!

We stopped by 7-11 on the way home to take partake in free slurpee day! I thought the idea of them giving out 7.11 oz slurpess was creative but cmon, give me a bigger slurpee. I’m not a midget so my slurpee shouldn’t be either.

Later on, the plan was to have shrimp and mango kebabs on the grill with grilled veggies

But then Mother Earth decided to be a bitter beezy and ruin our plans

We brought everything in before the rain hit and put the kebabs in the oven and let the veggies cook over the stovetop. I made cucumber and tomato salad to go with the veggie themed meal and dinner was served!

Do restaurants post calorie content for public view where you live?

What’s your favorite thing to make on the grill?

For my kettlebell users-what are some other exercises I can do? I need to mix it up and will occasionally do wind mills and swings with my workout but other than what I normally do, I’m at a loss of what else to do with mine.

Attention all four legged friends and the people they own—Athens, GA is a very dog friendly city! Perhaps it’s the memories of penny pitches, fake ID’s or unhealthy food at your disposal any time of day…. but I love college towns. Especially college towns in the summer time when it’s not insanely packed and you can get a chance to walk around and check it out. A majority of restaurants/bars on Broad Street in Athens have patios right along the sidewalk where you can sit with your pooch. I guess I wouldn’t expect less seeing how University of Georgia’s mascot is UGA, the bulldog.

While looking for restaurants where I could bring Lincoln, I saw a few places but when I looked at their menu, nothing popped out at me especially not at the prices they were offering. I read about De Palma’s and didn’t get a chance to check out their menu beforehand. When we stopped by there to check it out, we saw they had a lot of tables open on the patio with very reasonable prices.

We sat outside and thank god the patio was covered began the clouds were rolling in.

After sniffing out the patio, DePalma’s was Lincoln approved

We ordered right away since we were hungry and got some wine. A perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon.

We got some fresh bread out to us before we got our meal. There is nothing like fresh bread and olive oil!

Lincoln got a whiff of the bread right as the server brought it out. He wasn’t pawing at me or anything but you could tell he was intrigued.

Since it was June in Georgia and we were sitting outside, pasta or pizza was the last thing on my mind. I ordered the Insalata Cecilia-grilled shrimp, scallops, pineapple & tomatoes with feta over field greens with jalapeño–citrus vinaigrette

My mom and dad got a medium pizza with pepperoni and green peppers. As you can see, there is only half here. They brought it out that way. The reason being because my mom, Lincoln and I sat outside while my dad sat inside at the bar. No bad blood or anything, he was just hot. So was I but I had a fur baby to deal with. I guess he had prime seating location since he waved over the server when he saw them bringing out the pizza. So they gave him half and then brought out the remainder to my mom. This is how my family rolls. I tried a sliver of the pizza and wasn’t too impressed. The pizza was bogged down with sauce and make it soggy plus the sauce was very sweet.

Lincoln began to pout once he realized he wasn’t getting any food and wouldn’t respond to me when I called his name. So I did what any good dog mama would do and fed him a few pieces of pepperoni from the pizza. His admiration for me set in right away until yet again he realized he wasn’t getting anymore.

Torrential rain hit just as we were leaving so we walked Broad Street trying to find a patio to sit in until it passed. We ended up in the stairwell of a bar and watched the rain….and watched….and watched. 15 minutes later it finally started to let up and I saw something with the letters “YOG” I gave my mom my dog and bolted over there in hopes that it was fro yo.

I dug this location since it was a historic building just sooped up. However, I soon found it wasn’t my beloved self serve kind of place, it was a traditional fro yo kind of joint. Boo. It reminded me of a Pinkberry knockoff and I’m not a huge fan of the Pinkberry. But once I saw the fro yo, I had it on the brain and needed to get something there. I ordered the small green tea with blackberries and strawberries.

Ok, so they hooked up with the strawberries and blackberries but I definitely didn’t want all of that. When I have a fro yo craving, I want a little portion and craving gone, which is why I dig the self serve places. This SMALL portion cost $5.30. Mind you, it tasted wonderful but I could get a meal for that much (at a seedy place or the supermarket deli, not Ruth Chris of course)

I hope I get to go back to Athens one day…..with Lincoln of course!

If you went to college, did you go to a small or big school? I went to WVU, it has around 25,000 people when I went and the fact that it was voted #1 party school may have swayed my vote to go there just a little.

I really need to remind myself not to buy tons of fresh produce before I am set to leave town. I went to Trader Joe’s on Sunday night and got some staples for the week such as bananas, apples, onions, oranges, kiwi and mushrooms. I’ve been able to eat all of them except my beloved mushrooms. And to make it even more annoying when I cook with shrooms I always sing “My Shrooms” to the tune of “My Humps”

“My shrooms, my shrooms, my shrooms, my shrooms

Cooking baby bellas bellas and even shiratake”

I can’t help it, I turn everything into a song.

I made crock pot chicken the other day using Hawaiian marinade. I mixed the sauce with chicken broth then threw in leg quarter and cooked for seven to eight hours.

While that was finishing, I cooked red onions and pineapples with two tbsp of low sodium soy sauce and garlic then laid on top of the chicken

I had rice on the side then added a huge pile of shrooms on top to make a very filling meal.

The next day I enjoyed a heaping portion of mushrooms with eggs

On Wednesday, my friend and I went to Icehouse for lunch to use up a $20 Groupon I had. I need to start burning through all of these Groupon and Living Social deals I’ve bought before I leave so it’s go time. When we walked in, we saw this lovely sign. Game on.

It was only appropriate for me to get a beer. Because it was Wednesday, sunny and half off of course.

I got the Thai Noodle Salad with chicken and ate the whole thing, it was flavorful and refreshing, which was much needed since it was 90 something degrees out. Plus I’ve been craving pad thai like whoa lately so this subdued the craving for a few days.

Afterwards, we stopped by Not Just Coffee. I was in serious need of java. This is a new coffee shop and I keep meaning to go even though I’m a tried and true Starbucks gal.

But the thing is they have weird hours. They open in the morning, break for siesta then open back up at night and are closed on the weekend. I dig the siesta concept as I love an afternoon nap but closed on the weekends does not work well for me.

It’s a small joint with a couple of stools set up at the bar. We wanted something cold and both went for the iced mocha. The barista was friendly, took his time making the drinks and you could tell it was made with love.

Topped with some of the best whipped cream I’ve ever had and cocoa. Suck that baby down and go straight to my hips, well worth it.

And check out this beautiful mural right next door! Can we say love?

When I got home, I was out for the count. See above where I said I love afternoon naps, there is just something enchanting about them. I tried to wake up to go to a Yelp event but it wasn’t in the stars. My head was pounding and opening my eyes even hurt so I took some Excedrin and waited for it to pass. I wasn’t even hungry when I finally got up and running again so dinner was a bowl of pineapple and kiwi.

Ok, I lie, I killed the last of the cupcakes from the wedding.

The picture almost didn’t happen because it was that delish. Oh cupcakes, I can’t quit you. I’m glad you all enjoyed hearing about papi chulo and the meat parade. Maybe our paths will cross again and thanks for the mad compliments on that dress-I felt so pretty in it and scored it for $20 at Ross (originally $100) I think I will cry if I move somewhere and they don’t have Ross.

Oh yeah, I’m a brunette now!

I feel like I should be on Real Housewives of New Jersey with this hair color and surprisingly enough, this is my just near my natural color. But more to come on that later…

I tried something new last night. Not a new vegetable, sauce, product or exercise. But something more fun than all four combined–the Valium.

And I liked it.

When I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, they were concerned about me since my blood pressure was high (Note, never have had an issue with high blood pressure). Along with that, I was very nervous about my upcoming procedures like root canals and crowns….even the teeth cleaning. So they prescribed me some good stuff–antibiotics for my tooth that I’m getting a root canal done on (one of two that need it), some drug to help me with nausea (must ask Diana what it is when I find the bottle) and Valium, my new vitamin V.

I’ve had all three sitting around for the past weeks but a bit afraid to open up the bottle. I don’t know if it’s fear of the unknown or fear that I may become addicted to the stuff but tried half a pill last night so I could get a good nights sleep along with hopes that my quad pain would go away. So I went into the kitchen, sliced that sucker in half, went back to the bathroom to put the other half back in the bottle and the bottom dropped and scat went the valium. I freaked out and was suddenly on my hands and knees searching for the valium since I didn’t want the precious babies to go to waste. It was like a scene from an indie film where a junkie loses her pills. Mind you, again, my quad was in complete pain but I didn’t care, I just needed my pills. Plus Lincoln was standing right there so I feared that he would eat one and god knows what would happen if little man digests one.

I took the half that I had in hand and felt good, really good. I watched Gilmore Girls (because I can’t stop and want to move to fictional Stars Hollow) and rested the remainder of the night. I fell asleep right away, didn’t wake up at 3A like I do every other night and woke up this morning energized and all that good stuff. I was looking forward to the next time vitamin V and I would meet.

This morning floated by, I knocked out a bunch of work since I was leaving early for a dentist appointment. I brought soup for lunch but wanted something substantial since I would be having dinner later than normal. I remember a 25% off coupon from blynk organic that I swiped at the Yelp Holiday Detox this wknd (I may have swiped *ahem* five or six of them) and soon headed across the street to blynk to get some fresh, organic grub.

blynk has a variety of cold and hot sandwiches plus salads that are pre-arranged or you can create your own. Plus they have a lunch duo that includes half a sandwich plus soup or salad for $7. And it’s healthy, natural goodness so I don’t mind spending a few extra bucks for that. I love that you can go to their website and they tell you the calorie/fat content for all the items on their menu plus they have plus they have other nifty tools like a BMI calculator and links for green living, natural health,etc. After a few seconds of scanning the menu, I went with the Chicken Twist sandwich-grilled chicken, cucumber, celery, basil pesto yogurt, tomato and mesclon on a pretzel hoagie roll.

Hello lova! I was curious about what a pretzel hoagie roll was and it was absolutely terrific. It was full, fluffy, not terribly chewy with the perfect hint of salt. The chicken was cut into big chunks and the basil pesto yogurt sauce was absolutely tasty. I wish I could have bought a container of that alone! I swore to myself I was only going to eat half but devoured the whole sandwich by the end of lunch. When I go back to blynk, ordering something different is going to be difficult since this sandwich has my vote!

Paired up with some carrots and Laughing Cow wedge, this meal filled me up and left me looking forward to my next visit to Blynk.

So I continued to work and then I looked at the clock. One hour until my dentist appointment. Per my dentists instructions, time to take two valiums so bottoms up-down they went. What does two valiums feel like? Effin fantabulous! I haven’t felt so laid back in a looooong time and while I usually get anxiety at work while making calls, I was totally at ease and probably sounded high or something. Mama felt good. My co-workers looked at me a little weird telling me that it was the most laid back they’ve ever seen me. I wish I could be like that all the time, I can totally see why people get addicted to the stuff! I refuse to become addicted to anything but it was perfect to take before my dentist appointment which usually stresses me out to the max but this time around I was all like “Hakuna matata bitches”

Dinner was delicious–I picked up some sushi from the supermarket–Ultimate Chile Roll. Sounds funky, I like the word ultimate (definitely don’t use it enough) and love chile anything. Look how gorgy it was!

The perfect roll. It barely needed any soy sauce to dip in since it had a lot of flavor and was fresh. The Perfect Roll. It kinda sounds like it could be a title of a movie, like “The Perfect Storm”. It could be about a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who wants nothing more in life than to be a top-notch sushi chef but no one believes in him or his abilities. So you watch the journey of him grow in his culinary skills along with growing emotionally and mentally and at the end, he creates the perfect roll and shows everyone how high he could fly. Must write Hollywood soon with this!

I also had a side salad with baby spinach, tomato, carrots, cucumber, red onion and avocado to get some veggies in for the day.

Especially after watching this segment on GMA this morning on how loading diet with veggies and fruits may be life saving. This salad along with my banana, kiwi and apple earlier on today leave me done for the day. Take that heart disease!

Christina from Hungry Meets Healthy posted a pic of what’s inside her purse. When it comes to my purse, I abide by the motto “Always be prepared”. If I were to ever go on a game show where they asked for a random item and if I had it in my purse, I would win. My purse is an absolute mess but better to have too much junk than not enough right (does not apply to junk in the trunk). So I figured I should venture into the depths of my purse to see exactly what’s in there. Here we go……

Sadly, this isn’t a lot for me. I’ve been using a new purse so I like to keep it somewhat clean and neat and this is little compared to how much crap I regularly hold.

Contents

*Planner and Journal

*Two Bath and Body Works sanitizers, one can never be clean enough

*iPod shuffle

*Phone charge (tangled with the iPod)

*Antacid -you never know when you’re going to need it

*Two wallets -I take one to the gym to carry my iPod, keys and gum

*Abercrombie & Fitch gift card that was given to me five or six years ago but have yet to use. I need to check if it has a balance still!

*Makeup bag

*Eye drops, nail file, brush, hair band

*Two rings and ghetto baby girl earrings. I thought I would love the earrings but they are too heavy for my delicate ears.

*Heart rate monitor strap. I’m now questioning where my watch is and why the stinky strap is in my purse

* Lollipop (probably from a bank), cough drops and gum

*Umm, soy sauce and buffalo sauce from Chick Fil A. I’m horrible about this. Not only do I swipe Splenda from Starbucks, I take extra soy sauce where I get sushi at the supermarket so I don’t have to buy it.

I wanted to salvage my white beans I made the other day so I went with making enchiladas with white beans and black beans so they wouldn’t go to waste. I hate throwing food away especially when only a little portion of it was burnt, so why not try to use it? As God as my witness, no bean shall be left behind! Nothing that a little cheese, veggies and spice can’t fix! I added green onion, shredded cheese and red, yellow and orange pepper to the dry mix along with the beans

I let that sit, added some chile powder and garlic to the mix then took half a can of El Pato, green onions, 5 oz light cream cheese and mixed in my magic bullet until semi-smooth.

Added the wet mix to the dry mix

Then softened up the tortillas by dipping into water in a saucepan for five to ten seconds ( I usually use chicken broth but was lazy and didn’t feel like opening up a container to use such a little amount)

Spooned portions of the mix into the tortilla

Wrap that bad boy up and then fill the pan full of cheesy fiberlicious goodness, sprinkle with the rest of the El Pato and 1/3 cup shredded cheese

Cook for 13 minutes at 375 and done!

I would die in a world without cheese. These were fantastic, filling and I was stoked to make use of the beans that were almost thrown out this past week. Plus this made four meals for this upcoming week so I won’t have to worry about making something for work for a good part of the week.

After dinner, it was time to work out. I did a kettlebell/dumbbell session and it was a great session to start the new year off with!

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Upright Deltoid Rows (13 reps, 3 sets)

Bentover Row (13 reps, 2 sets)

Halos (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 2 sets)

Lateral Bench Press (13 reps, 3 sets)

Dumbbell Raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

Squats (13 reps, 3 sets)

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Around the worlds (35 reps, 2 sets)

Between the legs pass (35 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Tricep Extensions (13 reps, 3 sets)

Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Shoulder Press (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc.

Push Ups (15 reps, 2 sets)

I brought back an oldie but goodie for breakfast this morning….oats! I can’t seem to eat oats in the summertime and it’s definitely a cold weather meal for me. I haven’t had them since September so thought it would be a good idea to bring them back for a guest appearance. I don’t have a standard mix in I add each time (except for flax seed, I always add that in) and this morning decided to switch it up even more by making it a sweet one with banana and white chocolate morsels (only so I could throw out the bag and say bye-bye to those little rascals)

I also added a drip or two of agave nectar and you know what I have to say about this bowl of oats?

Holy balls.

Yep, that’s all I can say since it was so fantastic.

I had a Groupon I’ve been wanting to use for awhile for Sunset Grille. Not only do I love Groupon b/c it’s cheap but it also gives me the chance to try establishments I would’ve had tried before. I’ve been using Groupon since early 2010 but it seems like the prices are going up on there-anyone else notice that? I remember when I first started using it, it seemed like you could get stuff for $5-$10 and now, more of them seem to be around $20 to $30. I don’t like. I was especially concerned since Groupon wasn’t even spelled right on the Groupon. What if Sunset Grille thought I was trying to scam??

Questionable stuff I tell you.

They brought us these little fried dough balls, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

I was on it like white on rice. They best way I could describe them was like a soft funnel cake ball. Unfortunately, that was the best part of my experience there. My friend and I decided to go for salads and the prices were absolutely insane. If you wanted salmon, chicken or beef on it, an additional $5! I could’ve been the frugal girl I am and just brought my own in because I refuse to pay that much for a measly portion of meat on my salad.

I ordered the large portion of the Sonoma County Salad. How they describe it:

And there it was, a glorified greek salad. Maybe I was expecting more for a large salad or it to pop since the ingredients sang to me. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but if I would have gotten meat on it and paid $13 for this salad, I would have been very disappointed. My friend got there asian chicken wonton salad and it looked like something you would get at Wendy’s. Hers was $13 and it she kept calling it a $5.99 salad. If I am going out to spend that much money on something like a salad, I want something substantial that will fill me, not a small plate of lettuce with a few add ins. Sorry, Sunset Grille, I won’t be back.

Hope everyone had a great and hopefully long weekend. This is going to be the first week I’ve had to work all five days in over a month and it’s going to be rough.

Thanks for the feedback on the facebook stalking. It seems like most admitted to it with a few thrown in there who think it spells out bad news. I like to hear what people’s thoughts are on it with exes since I like to stalk for a day or two and then get bored with them. I think it’s the whole intrigue of where they are now, have they changed-if so, for better or worse, etc. I became friends with another ex from college this past spring and we ending up talking one night and he changed….for the worst. He was a really nice guy when we dated but has become bitter towards women, almost in a masochistic way. It’s weird how much people can change. I have gotten a lot nicer and more patient since college but some others I’ve seen have changed in a negative way. Oh well, people are people.

So, I’m on a little black bean kick. The madness started last night. I wanted to make something quick and delicious for dinner but after scouring my cupboards, I couldn’t come up with anything. Then I remembered the six-pack of black bean cans I had sitting there and black bean burgers automatically popped into my mind.

Except I didn’t have onion, pepper or any eggs, which I always use in mind. I was going to say eff it since I had something cooking on the stovetop but really wanted to make black bean burgers since I got the idea in my head. I finished up my cooking and went to the supermarket to pick up some onion, peppers, eggs and other random stuff then back at home to start on the burgers.

I chopped up half an onion and one pepper then threw into a mixing bowl with breadcrumbs (about 1/3 cup) garlic, chili powder and a dash of salt.

I threw a can of the black beans in my magic bullet with a little of the liquid from the can to soften them up a bit. Every black bean burger recipe I’ve seen tells you to mash with a fork and that never works for me, so I figured this can’t hurt.

They were watery but definitely broken up more than mashing with a fork, I threw into the mixing bowl and mixed with the other ingredients and one egg.

After doing that, I threw boil-in-a-bag brown rice into the microwave and cooked for 10 minutes.

I will definitely be doing this again, I always make mine on the stovetop but this is way more convenient.

I formed into four patties and threw them on the stovetop with a little oil in there already.

And how cool is this picture on the protective seal of Daisy’s sour cream? I love natural beauty, especially when paired with sour cream.

I then topped with a couple of tablespoons of cheese, microwaved for 30 seconds then topped with a dollop of sour cream and tabasco

Mission accomplished–a quick and delicious meal.

This is definitely the best black bean burger I’ve made to date. I like to think it was because of putting the beans in the magic bullet. I had one later last night alone and it was zesty and moist-hooray!

It felt great to move and get my heart rate up there after a long weekend of eating and sleeping!

Getting back to work today was rough. I had to catch up on so much but there were a lot of people out of the office which helped because that means fewer distractions for me. One of my co-workers told me he had a Qdoba BOGO coupon that expired on 12/31/10 and asked if I want to go. Lunch for $3?? Of course I want to go.

And you know what I got?

A naked grilled chicken taco salad….with extra black beans. What can I say, when I like something, I really, really like it! I hate trying to snap a picture in front of my co-workers, I feel so sketchy doing so because I do it really quick and hope no one hears my phone cam go off. Anyone know how to turn off the sound of the camera taking a snapshot on Blackberry? I searched all over the help guide on my phone and can’t find squat.

At work, it was me and the guys, which I love. We talked about sports, naturally. Then they started talking about Julius Peppers, a defensive end for the Bears who used to play here for the Panthers. One of the guys was saying how huge he was in person-both tall and wide but he is one of the quickest in the league. I’ve seen him play but never realized how huge he was so when I got back to my desk, I googled him. All the pictures seemed to be of him in uniform but I wanted to see a normal picture so I clicked on one of the Google results and went to the webpage. And my computer froze. Of course, it wasn’t a normal page. Oh no, it was some page called “Sexy Black Men” and my frickin computer froze! I was waiting for my manager to walk by, ask what was going on and then get fired for looking at porn while at work but thankfully, that didn’t happen. When my computer restarted, I finally found a normal picture of him. He is a pretty big guy–look at those hands!

I need to start looking at the names of these sites before I click on them…..especially while at work!

Dinner, again, black bean burgers. I can’t help myself!

Mmmmmmmm. I need to make another batch of these….soon!

And now I’m off, I am going to a friend’s house tomorrow for NYE to just hang out, watch movies, eat and drink. I am going to be making some appetizers to bring over to her place but need to put my shopping list together.

Meh, Sunday. I stayed up until 3A last night watching tv and once again, it felt so good to sleep in. I don’t know what it is about Tyler Perry movies that get me but once it starts, I can’t look away. After three of them in a row, I was ready to hit the hay. Having no plans today, I wasn’t sure how today was going to turn out.

This morning was nothing unordinary–breakfast, errands, park, football, yay. When I went to the park. I walked a bit but also got a few sets of running in! I haven’t run since April so it will be nice to attempt to hit the pavement again running but I’m sure my legs won’t be thanking me come tomorrow. After having lunch, I was feeling blah and wanted to move so I fit in a strength training session.

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Side Bends (15 reps, 2 sets)

Upright Deltoid Rows (13 reps, 2 sets)

Step Ups (25 reps, 1 set)

Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Reverse Fly (13 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shoulder press (13 reps, 3 sets)

Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

Tricep Extensions (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc.

Crunches

Planks

Random yoga poses

This took about 35 minutes with misc. jumping and bopping around in between sets. I didn’t wear my heart rate monitor because I feel like I haven’t been getting a good workout lately when I wear mine. If it doesn’t work, I get fixated on that and lose focus on my movements which could eventually hurt me in the long run. I feel like I had an awesome workout this time and my heart rate was was consistently up there. I made a green monster with half a packet of SpiruTein Smore flavored protein powdered

I forgot a fabulous recipe that I made this past week! I saw a recipe for Stuffed Poblanos in Martha Stewart Food that I just had to try. They were super tasty and spicy but I think they needed some more substance in them.

Ladies-please email me your addresses so I can get those puppies over to you! Thanks to all who participated and told me your favorite salads!

So yeah, that’s that. Nothing too exciting going on over here today but the day just dragged on. I took a nap and am anxious to see what work is going to be like tomorrow. We are in training for the next couple of weeks so I really don’t know what to expect but we shall see. I am just waiting to find out who my manager is so I can’t set up my vacation time. Out of ten people on my team, three of us were bank associates before this job so I am hoping I have some seniority with picking my vacation time.